Project Overview
Council recognises the important role it plays in delivering transport services in the region and has developed the Gladstone Regional Council Transport Strategy 2022 (Strategy).
The Strategy outlines the desired strategic directions and priorities for the development of the region’s transport network, delivering on an initiative identified in the 2021-22 Operational Plan and Budget.
The project study area covered the entire Gladstone Local Government Area (LGA) with the aim of ensuring our assets are planned in a strategic, consistent, and effective way.
Council collaborated with our community, including representatives from State Government, business, and industry in the development of the Strategy which outlines 24 actions to prioritise and manage the road network, now and into the future.
Transport Network Goals for the Gladstone Region
Transport Network Roles, Challenges & Opportunities
Community
Community
- Enable a connected transport network that facilitates everyday use
- Promote joint planning with other transport managers to provide a “one network” approach
- Enable and encourage a connected active transport network
- Enable ancillary facilities that support the region’s recreational needs e.g. boating
- Promote expansion of the public transport network
- Enable better disability access to the transport network
- Support Recreational Vehicle tourism
- Limited public transport availability
- Reliance on private vehicle
- Urban sprawl and multiple townships (low population density making service provisions less cost effective)
- Limited and disconnected existing active transport network
- Resistance in some sectors of the community to active transport
- Topography (slight barrier for active transport and disability provision)
- Constraints in the existing road network, such as road reserve widths and the location of other infrastructure
- Limited close parking for large events/tourism/peak periods with expectation for parking in front of destination
- Minimal existing disability access to existing infrastructure
- Managing expectation, affordability, and availability of resources to provide infrastructure
- Improved community engagement
- Improved joint planning and advocacy with other transport managers
- Improved availability, connectivity, and usage of active transport
- Support improved availability of public transport
- Protect future corridors including location of other services in the road reserve
- Develop and provide clear plans, strategies and level of service documents available to the community
- Embrace emerging technologies to provide a more effect transport network e.g. mobility as a service
- Identify coordinated high-density development, areas and supporting transport plans
Economic Development
Economic Development
- Enable freight and commuter movements though “one network” planning
- Support inter‐modal transport networks
- Enable economic growth
- Support Active Tourism
- Promote regional growth through advocacy and collaboration
- Enable access to land development to support growth
- Enable social infrastructure improvements for liveability and population attraction.
- Aging structures within transport network, resulting in load limits and loss of integrity
- Increase in freight vehicle numbers and size
- Limited existing active transport network
- Constraints in the existing road network, such as road widths, bridge load limits and overhead obstructions
- Limited joint planning with other transport mangers
- Protection of sensitive land uses whilst supporting economic development and not unduly constraining economic growth
- Limited existing survey/ condition assessment/ As constructed data of existing network
- As the network grows through development council’s maintenance and financial costs increase
- Not optimised links / interactions between different transport types for freight / industrial purposes (i.e. rail to road, port to road)
- Support growth in freight movements
- Support growth in Active Tourism
- Support diversification of employment sectors
- Collaboration with Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR), Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC) and other transport managers
- Provide clear planning information to the public to enable future investment
- Support self-drive and recreational vehicle tourism
- Improved advocacy with state and federal government bodies to improve regional transport network
Safety
Safety
- Enable a safe transport network for all users
- Enable response to defects/ accidents/ hazards in accordance with level of service requirements
- Enable Crime Prevention through Environmental Design Principles
- Promote cross agency safety initiatives
- Enable and support innovations in technologies
- Support and enable road rule enforcement
- Regional Queensland is overrepresented in crash statistics
- Limited existing active transport network
- Constraints in the existing rural road network e.g. narrow seals, tight bends
- Increasing gap in current road standards versus standards at the time of construction
- Increase in driver road condition expectations
- Higher levels of maintenance required as standards increase
- Community confusion around ownership and responsibility of asset. e.g. school zones, and community expectations where we are not empowered to fix
- Finite resources
- Managing emerging technologies e.g. infrastructure requirements for driverless vehicles, pedestrian and electric scoter interactions
- Higher proportion of unsealed versus sealed roads.
- Increase in freight vehicle numbers and size
- Improved safety through improvements in infrastructure and technology
- Improved infrastructure for active transport to improve safety and usage
- Support and partner with State and Federal safety education programs
- Improve proactive road safety initiatives
- Utilise technology to reduce physical infrastructure requirements
Network Resilience
Network Resilience
- Enable improved resilience to the impact that extreme weather events, natural disasters, and commercial incidents have on the transport network
- Enable Network planning that considers alternative route planning for events (fit for purpose alternative)
- Enable appropriate information to be available to the public before, during and after extreme events
- Enable Maintenance standards and schedules that support improved resilience
- Support emerging technologies e.g. Electronic Vehicle, Driverless cars
- Roads flood in small rain events
- Limited alternate routes
- Large portions of existing road network located in areas vulnerable to extreme events
- Existing roads constructed out of unsittable materials for their location increasing the impact of extreme weather events
- Access to suitable material to build resilient roads
- Lack of data on existing road network (we don’t know what we don’t know for large portions of the network)
- Limited funding sources to improve resilience
- Providing for emerging technologies e.g. introduction of electric vehicles and charging station requirements, road infrastructure to support driverless vehicles.
- Understand and potentially Improved road flood immunity/ reduced time of inundation
- Improved access/egress before and after a major event
- Increased resilience of road network after inundation
- Make more information available to the public to enable decision making during events
- Improved data capture during events to better inform future transport resilience
- Improved network planning to identify network criticality and fit for purpose evacuation/ alternative routes
- Improved Planning to put council in a better opportunity to apply for and be successful with funding applications.
- Provide clear information to the community on Council’s role and stance with different transport activities e.g. Charging Stations
Engagement Results
Gladstone Regional Council Transport Strategy - Engagement Results
